1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an imaging unit, an imaging apparatus, and a control program.
2. Related Art
A CMOS type imaging unit is known that amplifies and retrieves a pixel signal generated by a pixel section in response to incident light, using an amplification circuit provided for each vertical signal line, as shown in Patent Document 1, for example. Patent Document 1: 2004-15701
A charge corresponding to the incident light is accumulated by a floating diffusion, output to the vertical signal line, and amplified by the amplification circuit, and the resulting circuit is retrieved. After the charge is retrieved from the floating diffusion, the floating diffusion is reset, and therefore there is a limit of one type of amplification factor of the amplification circuit each time light is incident. When the amplification factor is reduced to accommodate intense incident light that causes a large charge to be accumulated in the floating diffusion, the signal retrieved from a region where the incident light is weak also becomes weak. Inversely, when the amplification factor is increased to accommodate weak incident light, the signal retrieved from a region where the incident light is intense becomes saturated. Therefore, a wider dynamic range is desired, without exceeding the dynamic range of the imaging unit.